Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta Etxeberria (born 6 August 1993) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays mainly as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

Club career

Born in Eibar,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Ruiz de Galarreta joined

's youth system in 2003, aged 10. On 14 December 2011, while still considered a youth squad player, he made his debut with the first team, coming on as a substitute for Borja Ekiza in the 88th minute of a 4–2 away loss against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in that season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

; during his first year, however, he almost exclusively played with the reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. Ruiz de Galarreta made his second appearance for the main squad on 2 August 2012, again in the Europa League but now against

NK Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

(27 minutes played, 3–1 home win). He played his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

game 17 days later, replacing Gaizka Toquero at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

of an eventual 3–5 home defeat to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. During a match with the B side against Lleida Esportiu on 21 October 2012, Ruiz de Galarreta ruptured the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

on his left knee, being sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. For 2013–14 he was loaned to CD Mirandés of

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, where in a home game against

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

on 27 October he suffered the same injury. Previously, on 8 September, he scored his first goal as a senior, the only in the away victory over Real Madrid Castilla. The following years, Ruiz de Galarreta played with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

and CD Leganés on loan, helping the latter club to achieve a first-ever promotion to the top flight in 2016. He continued to compete in the second division subsequently, representing Numancia, FC Barcelona Atlètic and

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

. On 2 September 2019, Ruiz de Galarreta signed a four-year contract with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

in the top tier, though it was agreed he would remain on loan at Las Palmas for the upcoming season. He achieved another promotion with the former in 2020–21, contributing 29 appearances to this feat. Ruiz de Galarreta returned to his first club Athletic on 7 June 2023, on a two-year deal. He scored his first goal for them on 5 November, opening a 3–2 away victory over

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. In May 2025, Ruiz de Galarreta extended his contract until 2027.

International career

Ruiz de Galarreta started representing

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at under-17 level, appearing in 2010 UEFA European Championship qualifiers against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and two friendlies with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He also played for the under-18s and the under-19s.

Career statistics

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz De Galarreta, Inigo 1993 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Eibar Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Mirandés footballers Real Zaragoza players CD Leganés players CD Numancia players FC Barcelona Atlètic players UD Las Palmas players RCD Mallorca players Spain men's youth international footballers 21st-century Spanish sportsmen